Mandelson failed US ambassador vetting – but was given the job anyway

Keir Starmer has been accused of misleading MPs over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as US ambassador following reports that he failed a key security investigation, but was given the job anyway.

Lord Mandelson was denied critical leave after the prime minister announced he would be sent to Washington, but the Foreign Office took the rare step of overruling the advice. Guard.

The disgraced Labor peer was sacked months later over his links to pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein and now faces a police investigation over allegations he leaked sensitive government documents to Epstein while he was business secretary.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch accused Sir Keir of misleading MPs about the appointment.

The Prime Minister said he had told Parliament three times that all due process had been followed in appointing Lord Mandelson.

“We now know that the Prime Minister misled the Parliament,” he said. “The Prime Minister must take responsibility.”

The latest allegation comes after The Independent reported last September that there were concerns Lord Mandelson had not completed the investigation due to concerns about his business links to China and fears his past contacts with Epstein would “put him at risk”.

Lord Mandelson was the first political appointment rather than a career diplomat to the post in decades.

She was fired last September after more details emerged about her relationship with convicted sex offender Epstein, who died in 2019.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “Keir Starmer had already made a catastrophic error of judgment. Now he appears to have misled Parliament and lied to the British public. If that is the case, he must go.”

“Labour came into government promising to clean up politics. Instead we see the same old messes, scandals and cover-ups that we saw under the Conservatives.”

The Green Party called on Sir Keir to resign, accusing him of “lying and lying again”.

Green Party MP Sian Berry said: “He should resign. Starmer told Parliament ‘due process’ was followed. This report makes clear that is not true.”

“He attempted to blame the review process when, in fact, it was reported that a decision had been made to ignore a failed review. We need answers as to when and if Starmer and David Lammy were aware of this decision in order to overrule the review report.”

He also called for “exact reasons” for Mandelson’s failure to make the review public.

This is breaking news, more to come…